Sorry for the long wait but between work, Easter, family, and writer's block, I tend to put things on hold. Anyways, on with the "show."
Disclaimer 1: I own nothing!
Disclaimer 2: If I made any mistakes regarding medical/legal procedures, diagnoses, or anything else, I apologize and would appreciate reviews so that I may correct it later.
Notice: I know I promised a reunion, but I've been unable to make a realistic, touching, tear-jerking reunion between the world's most perfect Marvel Comics-based big-brother character and his idolizing younger brother that almost turned to the dark side over his loss. So, rather than botch an extremely important moment that every child/spouse/other relative/pet who had a parent return from a military campaign or a loved one who actually had a relative come back from a coma/the dead, I decided to skip it and make references to it instead.
Answering Reviews: to N.S. (I am sorry, so sorry, but there is no way I'm typing out your full username): I'm sorry for your confusion, I am no medical, legal, or financial expert, my only source is Wikipedia and even then I hardly understand it; I will make mistakes. The main reason I have Tadashi in the situation he's in is because, in allietheepic7's original version, he was also listed as a John Doe, though she (and I mean no offense to her whatsoever) never gave a reason why. I fully intend to clear things up for the other viewers as best I can in this chapter, but for you I'll give you my thought process, which is, the law and medical officials were wrong for the same reason they thought Prof C was "dead": standard human error.
Doctors may be smart but that doesn't always mean they make the right calls (for example in the movie Doctor Strange the titular doctor quickly realizes that a gunshot victim that was declared dead and to have his organs harvested—as the victim was an organ donor—was actually still alive; a real life scenario that doesn't always end so happily) and unknowingly, as I will explain in this chapter, let everyone believe Tadashi became human ash (which can happen, see NCIS episode "Moonlighting") while actually tending to him as a "John Doe."
As for the tidbit of Dannie using her mother's credit card to finish high school via the internet, again you are most likely right about that and I didn't know, that was a question of morals and ethics for me. While being a stunt performer requires no formal education, I figured she would still need at least a high school diploma, and between being on the run and her "cheery" memories of her freshman year, she would take online classes. Except legally accredited online schools still require money, which she didn't really have, so I had to decide between turning her into a "stealing other people's credit cards to survive" person or an "I'm going to use my parents' money which is technically mine anyway" person; the latter won. But you're most likely right, I'll have to reexamine how she paid for high school and edit that in.
To ShiraYukiShadow: I'm glad you approve of my ship (though personally I like the Dani/Hiro ships because they're so cute). I could go on about how you have to keep true to the characters or not make them like each other at first sight, but it's your story so go as wild or tame as you want. The only thing you actually have to watch out for, however, is their age difference. Not only could you have to think about the legality of their relationship (because every state has their own "age of consent" and if the twosome don't meet the criteria, then the older of two could face statutory rape, especially in case you want the two to become lovers), but people from different age groups tend to be in conflict with each other in interests and ideals.
For example, if the timeline in your story states that the third season of Danny Phantom happened around the same time as the events of Big Hero 6, then Danny would be 14-16 years old while Tadashi would be 18-21 (based on varying sources; otherwise he and Hiro would've shared the same jail cell as, in California, anyone under 18 is a minor and cannot be in the same cell as an adult), in which case they could only be together if Danny was 16 and Tadashi was 18 but Danny would still be more like Hiro physically and maturity wise which can be a real turn-off for Tadashi; OR you can have the Danny Phantom series end 7-10 years before the movie (as it did in real life), then Danny would be 21-24 years old at least or 23-26 years old at most, the latter option might case Danny to view Tadashi as more of a "younger brother" than someone to get in a relationship with.
Like I've stated before, it's your story, go with it, but be aware that age will be an issue.
To Bookworm1985: Thank you for your support! It is enthusiastic readers like you that make writing and publishing stories, fanfic or otherwise, such a great joy!
To ChaoticMinds: Sorry, but Dannie hadn't and won't meet a certain clone until a few chapters later. :(
To : Thank you for your support! I hope to not disappoint in the future.
Chapter Three: Awake and Alive
Cass Rudolph rushed through the main entrance of the hospital, almost slamming into the reception desk as she slid to a halt. She was frantic, no, she was hyperventilating. Having gotten the phone call about Hiro being in the coma ward, she rushed over as fast as she could, stopping only to get the customers out of the café and whenever traffic stopped. Rush hour was murder for someone in the woman's position. After losing Tadashi just two months ago, she was worried sick about losing her youngest nephew so soon. He was still fourteen for heaven's sake! He was waaaaay too young to die.
"HiCassRudolph! Igotthecallaboutmynephew!" she spoke in rapid fire succession, "Ishealright?! Whathappened?! Iwastoldhewasinthecomaward! Hisname'sHiroHamadahe'sfourteenyearsold…"
"Ma'am, please calm down," the reception lady interrupted, looking confused, "We have no idea what you're talking about. There's no Hiro Hamada in this facility, let alone the ICU."
"Butsomeonecalledmeandsaidmynephewwas…"
"Excuse me, Miss" a doctor intervened, "Did you say you're looking for someone named 'Hamada?'"
"YES! THAT'S MY NEPHEW! NOW WHERE'S HIRO!" Miss Cass was in full panic mode.
"Well…" the doctor was taken aback, then cleared his throat and continued, "There's no Hiro Hamada anywhere in the building, however, there is a recently awaked John Doe from intensive care claiming to be a Tadashi Hamada."
"What?! That's impossible! He died two months ago!"
The poor woman fought the urge to cry after saying that last part.
"I am aware that this is very strange, maybe if you come with me to the patient's room, you might help clear up this mess."
Miss Cass nodded and followed the physician. As they walked, the doctor told her in not too specific details about the confused patient, trying to help her understand the situation without breaking his oath:
"It's so strange. He was found alive but unresponsive in a burned building. He had smoke inhalation, burns, broken bones, shock, and a nasty concussion. Poor boy's been unconscious for months in stable condition before just an hour ago when he franticly woke up, gasping for breath. And just after a young woman donated some blood. And he's been fully alert since, normally patients waking up from a long coma would still be groggy and only stay awake for a few minutes before falling asleep. It's… it's like he woke up from a bad dream rather than a comatose state. Also, he showed no signs of mental, intellectual, or physical difficulties save for a dry throat and weakness, the latter two of which are to be expected, but there's no speech slurring, no trouble moving, and he seems to have retained the education level of a high school valedictorian."
"Is that normal?"
"With his mental state, only in movies and TV shows, though if you're right and he's not who he says he is, then he might be in a fugue state, a type of amnesia which the individual loses memories of their past life and creates a new identity for themselves. Then again, his physical state is a bit more expected. No matter who he is or how his mental state is possible, he's still going to need weeks if not months of physical therapy, he's lost a lot of weight and muscle mass which'll take a long while to regain, and his stomach has shrunk significantly and it's going to need to be treated carefully without making him sick."
"Oh, poor thing! What made him finally wake up?"
"Well we don't typically induce a patient to wake up unless we have to, they just do so on their own. The waking up spontaneously after two months is not uncommon, some comatose patients wake up after years, the longest being forty-two. That's why we didn't perform surgery when we realized he didn't have any serious brain damage."
"And you still haven't figured out who is?"
"He had no identification on him, nor any blood samples or fingerprints in the system. Normally we would've made a dental mold of his teeth but he started showing signs of clenching up his jaw so we decided to forego that in fear that the molding material and his teeth clenching would not only ruin the cast but seal his mouth. Because of that, we also decided to put him on a mild dose of oxygen to be safe. Oh, by the way, I'm going to need you to sign some forms promising you're not going to tell anyone about anything specific."
"Okay."
Upon entering the ICU, the woman was handed two sheets of paper which she signed and initialed before going to meet the miracle boy. They walked into the room, seeing a young man surrounded by an army of doctors and nurses, most of whom were whispering to one another over the circumstances of the patient's awakening, no one seeing or acknowledging the doctor and the woman. One of the nurses was undoing a bandage that covered up half his face. When it was finally removed, Cass's heart stopped and her jaw dropped at what she saw. There was no mistaking it, her elder nephew was alive and right in front of her.
Before anyone can do anything, Cass Rudolph's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted.
Later that night, Hiro and his friends arrived at the Lucky Cat Café in Wasabi's car.
"Did your aunt tell you why she wanted all of us over for dinner and we're not allowed to say 'no' again?" the driver asked, looking a little confused.
"Who cares? It's free food," Fred exclaimed as everyone got out, "And nothing's better than free food! Especially Aunt C's food!"
"I don't know, Wasabi," the one teenager answered the neat freak's question, "She just called me and said that we were having her "melt your face" chicken wings for dinner and that I had to bring all of you guys and that she wouldn't take no for an answer."
"Maybe she got engaged and wants to introduce her fiancé," Honey Lemon chimed in.
Hiro snorted and said, "No way had my Aunt Cass met some guy and fell in love without already telling me or me knowing. I haven't seen her even look at another guy since she became my guardian."
"Who said it had to be a guy?" Gogo nonchalantly gave her two cents, causing the other older college students to look at her.
"Still would've known," Hiro answered then realized, "If she was getting married, why would she want you guys to know? No offense, but it's not like you're all family."
"Well, she'll need help planning and executing the wedding," Honey excitedly explained, getting very giddy while Hiro was searching for the key to the front door, "Fred could be the DJ, Wasabi could be in charge of decorating…"
"Party decorating is not my specialty," the African American male interjected, Gogo deadpanning, "Thank God."
"Wasabi could be the ring bearer, Gogo and I could be bridesmaids," Honey continued as they walked into the café area, not noticing the shorter female cringe at the word 'bridesmaid,' "Oh, and maybe she'll let you escort her."
"That would be the most awkward thing ever," Wasabi teased.
Fred started snickering as Hiro rolled his eyes and led the group upstairs. Thirty seconds later, ever bystander heard someone (Fred) yell "Man down! Man down!"
It was two weeks before Dannie saw Tadashi again. Dannie was surprised she hadn't read anything about his recovery in the news, "Coma Patient Miraculously Awakens!" would've been a nice fluff piece. Eventually she just shrugged it off, thinking that his family had asked the news people to respect their privacy. What didn't surprise her was that Tadashi hadn't come to see her since then. After spending two months in a coma, he probably just wanted to be with his family and friends, and just get through physical therapy. Plus he didn't know where she lived and probably didn't even remember her.
Dannie wet a washcloth in the bathroom sink and wiped her forehead and back of her neck. Today was murder, she was up since three in the morning yesterday helping an indie film group make a short martial arts movie and didn't finish until eight AM today and didn't get home until nine. Between wire stunts, teaching the actors how to properly fake fight, and the pyrotechnic setbacks, the whole shot was brutal. It was like the director had decided to make a Power Rangers knock-off and throw in every stunt under the sun. Sometimes she swore the various directors she worked with were going to kill her again.
Not that she was really complaining. The stunts were really fun and kept her in top shape. Plus it felt nice for people to look at her in awe and appreciate her. Dannie honestly couldn't imagine doing anything else, well other than being an astronaut but that didn't seem likely in her current position. Private companies weren't really interested in stunt doubles with no college education or experience flying aircraft. Let the professionals' try-out those experimental space ships, she'll try when they got everything down pat.
After a two hour nap, her stomach told her it was empty and she obliged. On her new motorcycle, she cruised the streets looking for a place to eat that day. She finally stopped when she noticed a sign for the Lucky Cat Café. It couldn't hurt to visit, she heard good things after all. The doorbell rang as she opened it and heavenly scents amplified her need to eat. Seating herself in a booth by the window, lunch hour not setting in as the café wasn't really crowded, she looked through the menu on the table, vaguely aware of the sound of a male clearing his throat next to her.
"Hi, may I take… Dannie?" that got her attention.
Looking up she saw Tadashi, faint burn scars on his neck and right side of his face, supporting himself with a pair of crutches and wearing a comfortable-looking t-shirt, jeans, and a San Fransokyo Ninjas baseball cap on his head. His eyes shone with a spark of joy that wasn't there when they first met. And he was still as cute as ever.
"Oh, hi, Tadashi," the hybrid stammered, blushing, "I…I didn't realize that was you."
"S'okay," he smiled, "What brings you here?"
"Well I haven't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon and when I recognized the store, I figured I'd eat and see how you were doing. Dang it, I should've asked you to sit down."
The twenty-year-old huffed out a laugh and said, "That's alright. I'm getting hungry too, how about I get your order and we can eat together."
"You sure you should be standing up so much?"
"Well, I've been lying around for about fifty-six days, so the thought of sitting around downing nothing makes me antsy. So, what are you in the mood for, I'll buy."
"You'll regret that offer," Dannie smiled devilishly, her eyes temporarily flashing green as she gave her order, "I'll have a regular soda, no ice, 25 piece extra spicy chicken wings with a side of jalapeno cheese fries and corn on the cob with butter, salt, and pepper."
Tadashi blinked as he heard her order, "How can a dainty girl like you eat so much?"
"I have a job that requires me to be on a high calorie diet," she replied with joking indignity, "Plus I like comfort food."
"Your stomach must be a bottomless pit. Anything else?"
"Maybe later."
"Okay, when I come back and if you need anything, just let me know."
The male turned to walk away, only to knock into the empty table behind him. His face turned red as he tried to straighten the table, and Dannie's giggling only made him redder.
"Not funny," he mock-pouted.
"You're right," Dannie smiled, "That was hilarious."
Thirty minutes later, Tadashi returned with her order plus his own lunch: a grill cheese sandwich with ice tea and a small side salad.
"That's your lunch?" Dannie snickered as her friend set the plates, "After two months I'd eat a whole elephant."
"I want to, I really do," Tadashi explained, smiling and chuckling as well, "But my stomach shrunk and eating a big meal would kill me. This is the largest meal I've had for two weeks."
"Oh, man, that must really suck," Dannie was showing genuine sympathy as she said that, "What have you being eating?"
"Let's just say I could live happily for the rest of my life and never eat rice or chicken broth… ever."
Depressing conversation aside, the man sat on the opposite side of the booth and they started eating, Tadashi nibbling on his sandwich while Dannie dug in.
Six wings and half of her cheese fries in, Tadashi found himself asking, "What job permits someone to gore themselves like this? Well, besides competitive eating."
Swallowing her food, Dannie shrugged and answered, "One that requires doing high calorie activity, in my case, stunts."
Her male companion almost spat his food out before swallowing and sputtering, "You're a daredevil?"
"Stunt performer and occasional rigger," she corrected, "But I occasionally do the fun stuff in place of the actors."
"Shut up!" the man had to admit, that's cool, "Wait, you're, what? Seventeen? Eighteen?"
"Nineteen."
"Sorry, but anyway, how did a nineteen year old become a professional stuntman… err woman, stuntwoman?"
"It's actually not that hard. All you have to do is be eighteen or order, have some experience with martial arts and/or extreme sports, join a certified union, and go to special schools for the summer. No formal education required, though a high school are recommended and you have to say fit and be in perfect health at all times."
"There is no way it's that easy."
"The process is easy, actually doing it isn't. They only reason I got hired as because a professional stuntman saw me kill it at a motorbike track. Even then, I had to work under an experienced mentor for ten months before getting off my training wheels. And it's not as glamorous as it appears, snooty actors, bossy directors, the occasional near death experiences, long hours, travel, and high insurance rates; it gets wild. It's not as bad for me because I do small jobs like commercials or help films school students with their projects."
"How long have you've been in San Fransokyo?"
"Six months. I'm originally from Amity Park but halfway through freshman year in high school I… I started traveling."
"Where to?"
"Just about everywhere. But, seriously, enough about me, how's being among the living again?"
"Oh man, I don't know what you told my Aunt Cass, but she came in expecting to be at Hiro's deathbed. Instead she found me and fainted on the spot."
"Seriously? All I said was that one of her nephews was in the ICU."
"Evidently everyone thought I was dead. And all because I left my wallet in Aunt Cass's car."
"How's that?"
"I had no ID on me so the hospital didn't know who I was when they found me. It's gonna take weeks to clear everything up, luckily I don't have an estate to reclaim."
"Well, at least everyone's ecstatic to see you."
"Everyone except my friend Fred, he's completely convinced that I'm some kind of zombie or vampire, or something."
"I'm sure he'll get over it."
"Well, actually, I think he's just mad about what happened when Aunt Cass revealed that I was alive," Tadashi smiled, desperately holding back a laugh, "Everyone froze until Wasabi fainted and fell on top of Fred…. Fred started yelling 'Man down!' Man Down!'"
The two started laughing at that.
Dannie changed the subject as soon as she could stop giggling, "Wha…what about physical therapy? Everything good in that department?"
"Therapy's good, although it's really frustrating. Guess I'm too used to being able to move around by myself. Now I have to use these."
He patted he crutches, which were currently leaning on his side of the booth.
"Yeah, therapy's annoying in all its forms," Dannie chuckled, "But hey, look on the bright side, in a few weeks' time your arms are gonna be ripped."
The duo started laughing at that comment for a few minutes before resuming their conversation. They spoke back and forth on many topics from Tadashi's projects to the weather to Dannie's behind-the-scenes commentary on the latest film she worked on. They only stopped when the male got up to take away their plates and get some refills, Dannie offered to help but he insisted. Now with fresh carbonated goodness, Dannie resumed their talk.
"How's your professor? Did he make it out?"
Tadashi became quiet for a second, playing with his fork and looking down, then spoke in a low voice, "He's alive and as well as he can be in prison."
Dannie spat her drink back into the cup, harshly whispering, "What?!"
The man sighed and explained, "Apparently he was the one that started the fire."
"Why would he do that?"
"Well, I found this all out on the internet but for some reason he decided to steal Hiro's microbots, fake his death, and pull some convoluted revenge plot on Krei Tech. Fortunately no one got hurt and some vigilantes were able to stop him and notify the proper authorities."
Dannie's mouth dropped slightly as she processed everything, a sympathetic look on her face. She knew what it was like when someone she trusted turned out to be a total jerk; it happened to her twice. Well not so much trusted in the sense as she trusted Tucker and Sam, but she did genuinely believe that her father's old college friend was a good man— after all, not many people were willing to tolerate either of her parents, especially her father, let alone being willing to forgive and remain friends with them— at least until he tricked her into a slightly obvious trap and tried (and failed) to win her over while revealing everything to her; and while she didn't like Spectra, she did believe the woman after the "therapist" told her that her sister despised her.
"I'm so sorry," was all she could say.
"The worst part of all this came after I confronted Hiro about this. He said no one told me about anything because they were afraid of how I would take it, then he told me that Alistair Krei was part of some top secret project that caused Callaghan's daughter to go missing and become presumed dead; said that Callaghan was holding a grudge for years*. Considering all that happened, I don't know if it was a 'spur of the moment' revenge plan or…"
"Or…what?" Dannie asked, her enhanced senses picking up the strain in his voice and noticing how tightly he was squeezing his eyes shut, fighting the tears.
The man was silent for a moment before exhaling and explaining, "Or if he's was planning this since the beginning. Those microbots… they could've been any of the other students' inventions. Wasabi's plasma project, Honey Lemon's chemistry advancements; heck he could've…"
He paused again for a moment before whispering, "He could've used Baymax… The thing I built to help people could've been used to…"
Dannie reached across the table and cupped her hands around his saying, "Stop, don't start dumping on yourself. Just because Cowaghan's turned out to be a jerk doesn't mean you have to stop being you. You do that and he wins."
"I…I just don't understand… He always seemed to calm and caring, always nudging his students to do their best. We all looked up to him… how could such a good man be capable of anything even remotely bad?"
"Grief, pain, and anger can do crazy things to a person's mind, especially if that person allows it to fester and doesn't have someone they trust to confide in or a way to work out their misplaced aggression. Like, for example, grabbing every photo you have of that jerk-face and vandalize them."
"Vandalize?"
"Yeah, you know, draw over it with a sharpie marker and give him goofy glasses, missing teeth, a dumb mustache…"
The young man started laughing, "You mean, like a juvenile?"
"Exactly like a juvenile," Dannie giggled back.
Their chuckle fest lasted a few seconds, but Tadashi's mood had brightened up considerably. Dannie began absentmindedly using her thumb to rub circles on his hand but stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing.
"To be honest, I thought you were just a dream," He admitted, "I mean, none of what happened… it defies the laws of physics…"
"As far as you know," Dannie countered, removing her hands from his, "There's still a ton of stuff even the best and brightest brains on Earth can't explain."
"Like how you were the only one that could see me?"
"Yeah, exactly. I can't even explain that."
The twenty year-old took a breath of air and, voice almost cracking, said "…Thank you, Dannie. For healing me… you didn't have to do that…"
"Well of course I did," Dannie sincerely assured him, "I wasn't going to just leave you there. My hero complex wouldn't let me…"
She immediately stopped talking, mentally cursing, Nice going Fenton! You're gonna blow your identity to a total stranger.
Tadashi seemed confused for a moment but shook it away. He flashed her a smile and she returned it.
They were about to pick up their conversation they heard someone yelled, "Tadashi Theodore* Hamada! What have you been doing all afternoon?!"
The two young adults turned their heads at the noise to notice an upset apron wearing woman who Tadashi immediately identified as…
"Hi… Aunt Cass," the young man greeted, confused before his face turned to horror as he realized why his aunt was staring at him with a disappointed look, "Oh no. Aw, geez, I am so sorry, Aunt Cass."
He groaned and buried his face in his hands, mumbling various apologies and self-scoldings. Dannie looked confused until she noticed that there was no one else in the café. Looking at her phone, she saw the time: half pass three, the lunch rush was long over and someone who was supposed to be helping Ms. Rudolph with the costumers had instead spent three and a half hours eating and talking with her. Oops.
"No, I'm sorry," Dannie stepped in, "I was the one that kept him away."
"And who are you, Missy!" the woman yelled, spooking Dannie a little before apologizing in a loud, upset voice, "Sorry, long day! How was your meal!?"
"It was good…" Dannie was trying to stay on the woman's good side.
Fortunately, she had an ally, though a somewhat awkward one, "Aunt Cass, this is Dannie. She's the one that… that…"
The woman just stared at them, waiting for an answer but for whatever reason, her nephew couldn't provide one. Time to save his hide again.
"I was… the one who snuck in the hospital thinking some creep was after me," Dannie intervened, "Saw a coma ward patient, felt sorry for him, donated some blood just to help, somehow woke him up, and slipped out before I could cause any trouble. Guess one of the docs or nurses told him about me and…"
She must've said something right because before she could finish, the older woman screamed with joy as she attacked the nineteen year old with a very strong, very tight bear hug. The kind she hadn't experienced in five years.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou," The woman almost sobbed, "Thingsweresoemptywithouthim! PoorHirodidn'tevenwantto…"
Dannie started franticly patting the woman on the back, interrupting her.
"What is it?" Cass asked, genuinely concerned.
"Air!" Dannie gasped, convincing the woman to let go.
Tadashi just snickered.
"Did I mention that my Aunt Cass's a hugger?"
Dannie just glared and pouted, "You're so evil."
"Well, you have got to stay for dinner," the woman insisted, "What do you like?"
"Sorry, I can't stay," Dannie admitted, "If I'm not at the DMV in an hour, I'm gonna have to give up my new bike…"
Dannie paused for a moment, seeing their sad but understanding eyes, adulthood can suck sometimes.
"But I'm free tomorrow," Dannie finished, "And I'm not picky."
Cass squealed with delight and hurried upstairs, saying something about a list.
"Well… I, ah…. I'll see you tomorrow," was all Tadashi could muster, smiling nervously.
"Thanks for the free lunch," Dannie replied, "Take care of yourself, you got people that love you too much."
"I will."
The young man turned to follow his aunt, stumbling a little in the process as Dannie exited the café. But what neither of them noticed was that the stumbling was due to Tadashi's foot partially phasing through the floor.
Finally! I've completed this chapter! Phew! Tune in next time to see what follows.
*= Well the movie and the Disney Wiki didn't give Tadashi a middle name so I picked Theodore because (a) he's part Caucasian (otherwise Aunt Cass wouldn't be full Caucasian) as the Wiki stated and (b) due to iffy geopolitical relations, the Korean and Mandarin Chinese dub versions of Big Hero 6 renamed "Teddy Armada" to avoid as many Japanese references and Japanese culture references as possible. Same applied to Hiro who was renamed "Hiro Armada" in the Korean dub and "Hero Armada" in the Mandarin Chinese dub.
